by Rayna Morgan
• • •
Lea finished the project she was working on and emailed it with a sense of satisfaction. She stretched, looking at the border collie asleep in the middle of the room. "I'm sure my client will be satisfied with the report and will agree with my recommendations. I think we deserve a little celebration, Gracie."
Hearing her name, the dog's body rose instantly from a deep sleep. Lea laughed as Gracie raced around the desk, planting her front paws on Lea's midriff. "I'll call Maddy and see if we can take her to lunch at El Torito. I'm in the mood for Mexican food."
She dialed Maddy's cell number. Getting voice mail, Lea called the main number for the furniture store. She was told Maddy hadn't arrived for work nor had she called in. Alarm bells went off. That's not like Maddy.
Gracie sensed the concern in her master's voice.
"You don't think she ignored my advice and drove out to where she thought the Ramirez brothers camped, do you?"
When the dog started running in circles, Lea became more concerned. "Are you trying to tell me you think Maddy's in trouble?"
Gracie raced to the back door and began barking. "Okay, girl, we'll go see if she's at home. If she's not there, I’ll call Paul. He's not going to be at all happy with us when I tell him where I think Maddy’s gone, but the way you're acting tells me something’s wrong. Maddy may have gotten in over her head this time."
When they arrived at Maddy's house, Gracie leaped from the car barking loudly at the front door. Lea didn't have to ring the bell to know what her sweating palms already told her. Something had happened to Maddy.
• • •
Tom was leaving the parking lot at Neal's condominium when he got the call from Paul. "I hope you're calling to tell me you want to buy me lunch. My morning has been crazy. I could use some nourishment."
"Sorry, buddy. I'm afraid your morning is about to get crazier because of my wife."
He relayed everything Lea had told him regarding what she and Maddy had learned about the Ramirez brothers.
"And now, that fool sister of Lea's has apparently gone to where Maria told her the brothers were camping. She isn't at work, she's not at home, and she's not answering her cell phone."
Tom detected equal parts of worry, anger, and frustration in his friend's voice.
"I've warned those two before about playing amateur sleuths. I don't know what Maddy could be thinking getting anywhere near dangerous criminals."
"Calm down, Paul. I kind of admire Maddy's courage. She's fearless. Nothing intimidates the woman."
"Is it courage or lack of common sense?" Paul groaned.
"Oh, it's not that. Maddy is one sharp cookie. She usually knows what she's doing. She just lacks the restrictive boundaries most people set for themselves. Wherever her intuition leads, she follows."
"This time, her intuition may have led her into the middle of a potentially volatile situation."
"I'm almost on the freeway now. I should be at the campsite in less than twenty minutes. I'll let you know what I find. In the meantime, don't be too rough on Lea. This may all amount to nothing."
"I suppose. Maybe Maddy went out last night, met someone, spent the night, and overslept this morning."
Paul was surprised at how quickly Tom disputed the suggestion.
"I doubt it. Maddy isn't seeing anyone seriously right now, and she doesn't strike me as the type to spend the night with someone she barely knows."
"Since when are you an expert on her social life?"
Tom ignored the innuendo but hastened to add, "Nor is she inconsiderate or irresponsible. Even if she got a late start, it's unlikely she wouldn't have called the furniture store to let them know what time she'd be in."
"You're right," Paul conceded. "Maddy doesn't go out on hot dates or party all night. Her tastes are much more discriminating. All the more reason to be concerned about her being incommunicado now."
"I’ve got to go. Stop worrying. I'll call you.” Then, in a lighter tone, "And buddy, you owe me lunch when I find out you've sent me on a wild goose chase."
• • •
Not content to go home and wait to hear from Paul, and concerned for her sister's safety, Lea debated what to do. She turned to Gracie. The collie's head was hanging out the window, ears flapping in the wind, nose pointed straight toward the freeway.
"I agree, Gracie. We can at least drive in the direction of the campsite. If Maddy calls, we'll be that much closer to help."
Little did she know in her efforts to help her sister, Lea was placing herself in the area of no cell reception where she would fail to receive the call from Maddy that Roberto so urgently wanted her to get.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
They had been driving less than fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours to Maddy. Bumping around in the back of the truck, she was exposed to trees along the side of the road. Oak and birch pollen was triggering every allergy she had, causing an itchy throat and making her eyes water.
Tossing from side to side in a last attempt to roll from under the dirty blanket, she sensed the truck slowing. She stopped moving, listening intently. She heard a horse whinny and a man's voice. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.
"How ya doin’?" the voice inquired casually of the driver of the truck.
Roberto responded in a neighborly manner. "Good, how’s yourself?"
"Hate to tell you this, but there's a tree down across the road just ahead. I passed it on horseback, but you'll never make it around the tree with this truck. You got the riverbed on one side and a steep hill on the other."
"I need to get over the mountain to the interstate."
"You can turn around and go back to the coast highway. It hooks up with the interstate about fifty miles north."
"It takes twice as long going the coast route instead of the interstate. I don't have the time. I'm in kind of a hurry."
"Maybe you and I can move the tree off the road. If we can't do it ourselves, we'll put a rope around it. I can tie one end to my saddle horn and my horse will be able to pull the tree far enough off the road so you can get your truck through."
"Good idea. Let's try it."
Roberto starting climbing out of the truck. "Thanks, mister, I appreciate—"
Before he could finish the sentence, a loop of rope circled his upper body pinning his arms. He was pulled off his feet to the ground.
In the moment Roberto struggled to figure out what had happened, the stranger was on top of him, trussing him like a chicken with his arms and legs against his body.
"What in damnation are you doing?" Roberto screamed, anger spewing from every pore.
"I think you got hold of someone I know. I doubt if she's anxious to be spending any more time with you."
With that, Roberto's assailant walked to the back of the truck and pulled the blanket off the rolling, moaning lump.
"You got yourself in quite a pickle there, young lady." Amusement showed on his face as he began pulling the duct tape from across Maddy's mouth.
"Ouch, take it easy," she wailed. "You don't have to remove a layer of skin along with the tape."
"Your display of gratitude is underwhelming, to say the least," he laughed. Opening a pocket knife, he cut the tape away from her hands and feet. She refused his arm for support as she climbed from the truck.
"I'm fine, thank you very much," she announced haughtily, trying to regain her composure.
But in the first few steps, she found herself feeling woozy. She fell back into muscular arms that circled around to support her. Turning, she looked into the smiling brown eyes of her rescuer; the cowboy from Maria's Donut Shop.
He stood a good four inches taller than Maddy. His hair was mostly covered by the black Stetson tipped back on his head. His smile displayed a dimple in his chin and the whitest teeth Maddy had ever seen.
Maddy feigned weakness. Swooning slightly, she allowed herself to fall against his chest. "Whoa, little lady. This has been an ordeal. Let's get you off your feet where you can
catch your breath and clear your head."
He has taken my breath away, Maddy admitted to herself.
Leading her to the front of the truck, he opened the door and helped her inside.
"How’d you find us?" she asked, still shaken by the turn of events.
"I was doing my weekly ride along the back road beside the river. Homeless people hole up there during the dry season. Addicts get hold of drugs and go there to get high. And teenagers hang out there to," he looked over the top of his sunglasses, the corners of his mouth curling, "well, you know. I ride by to make sure they haven't left food that will attract animals living in the hills. I don't want coyotes coming this close to my property. It's easier if I get rid of the food."
"I still don't understand how you ended up in front of Roberto's truck."
"When I got close to the big sycamore, I saw a car I recognized pulled off on the side road leading to the picnic table."
"You knew it was my car from seeing us once at Maria's?"
Lowering his eyes and his voice, he looked into her eyes in a way that went right through her. "You were hard to forget even before I found you hog-tied and gagged in the back of a pickup truck belonging to one of the most notorious outlaws in the County."
Maddy's hair fell across her eyes, covering her flushed cheeks.
"When I found your car keys in the dust outside the car, I knew something was wrong. Being on horseback, I was able to ride down into the dry riverbed and follow it unobserved by Roberto to a point where I could get in front of him."
He kicked the boot of the trussed kidnapper, dozing with his chin on his chest. "By the way, Roberto, there's no fallen tree. You would have had a clear getaway to the interstate. Now, let's give you a sample of how you treated this young woman and throw you in the back of your truck. There are some people anxious to get their hands on you."
The cowboy turned back to Maddy. "If you can drive this truck back to get your car, I’ll take it from there. I can tie my horse to the back bumper and give this hombre a ride to the police station."
"No problem," a revived Maddy assured him. She scrambled into the driver's seat as her rescuer wrestled Roberto to his feet and secured him in the back of the truck.
Watching him mount the beautiful golden chestnut, Maddy called, "It would be easier if I knew your name instead of calling you the man from Maria's or my knight in shining armor."
He rose in the stirrups, tapping a finger to the brim of his hat. "Scott. Scott Miller."
Before she could open her mouth to respond, he added, "You don't need to tell me your name. I got it from Maria the same day I saw you there, Maddy."
• • •
Approaching the turn-off, Scott and Maddy saw three parked vehicles and people, including Lea and Tom, milling around her car.
Realizing she was driving the fugitive's black truck, Maddy started shouting and waving her hands out the window of the cab. A police officer at the scene had his weapon pulled before Lea recognized her sister and gestured wildly for Tom to call off his officer. Quickly appraising the situation, Tom ordered his officer to lower his firearm, but they approached the truck cautiously from two sides.
Looking suspiciously at the man atop the chestnut mare, Tom opened the door of the truck for Maddy to step out.
"What in blazes is going on here, Maddy?" he demanded.
"Roberto was using me as a hostage to escape." She pointed in the direction of the cowboy in the black Stetson. "Until this gallant gentleman rescued me."
Before either of the men could respond, they heard a uniformed officer calling. "Hey, boss, come check out what's in the back of the truck."
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Tom exclaimed, seeing the object of their manhunt bound and gagged on the floor of the pickup. Walking around the truck, he reached to shake the cowboy's hand. "Tom Elliot. You must be the one I have to thank for this."
"Scott Miller," the stranger answered, dismounting his horse and looping the reins over the saddle horn.
Tom turned a stern but relieved gaze toward the slightly disheveled but beautiful woman beside him. "Now, Maddy, we're all waiting with bated breath to hear how you got yourself into this mess in the first place. But right now, I've got to take care of Mr. Ramirez."
Maddy gave the officer details while Tom transferred the prisoner from the truck to the patrol car.
Having secured the recalcitrant, Tom returned to Maddy placing his hands on her shoulders to get her full attention. "Need I tell you what you did coming out here was not only foolhardy but downright dangerous? I hate to think how badly this could have ended for you. Don't imagine for a minute Roberto would have let you go once we met his demands."
"Don't worry, Tom; I've learned my lesson," Maddy assured him.
Tom doubted this misadventure was enough to make Maddy change her ways. Daring by nature, she was obviously more exhilarated than frightened now that her ordeal was over. It made Tom realize her impulsiveness and sense of living in the moment were the very qualities that made her so appealing.
Lea headed for her car, calling over her shoulder, "Come on, Maddy. Follow me home. I have to let Paul know what's happened; then I want to hear every fascinating detail." She hesitated and turned back to Tom. "Unless you need her for something."
"No, go ahead." Tom turned to leave. "If I need more information from you, Maddy, I'll get hold of you tomorrow. For now, we're all just glad you're safe and unharmed."
Lea visualized the conversation Paul would undoubtedly want to have regarding the peril the sisters' amateur sleuthing had created for Maddy. Thinking a buffer might help, Lea called to Tom. "Meet later at the Crab Shack to hear the full version of Maddy's adventure and celebrate having all three brothers behind bars?"
"Yeah, that will probably work. Roberto's going to holler for his attorney right away like his brothers did so I won't be able to grill him tonight. I can turn the paperwork processing over to one of my minions. See you there at seven," he confirmed walking to the patrol car to confer with his officer.
"Would you care to join us, Scott?" Lea asked. "The least we can do is to treat you to dinner after your heroic efforts on my sister's behalf."
"Thank you, ma'am, but my daughter's got a baseball game tonight I can't miss. They've got a chance to win their division and move on to the Little League playoffs."
At those words, Maddy's heart dropped from a level of high expectation to one of acute disappointment. So her handsome rescuer was married. How silly of her to have hoped that was not the case.
"Hopefully, we can do it another time. We're so grateful for what you did."
Giving her sister a hug, Lea’s eyes teared. "I'm so thankful you're okay, and that nothing terrible happened to you. We'll see you at the Shack at seven."
Lea got into her car and drove off leaving Maddy alone with her rescuer.
"I hardly have the words to thank you. I realize the danger I was in and what might have happened if you hadn't come along to rescue me." She lowered her eyes demurely, but before she could utter another word, she was wracked with an embarrassing onslaught of sneezing. "Sorry. It’s the trees and dust. My allergies have kicked in."
Scott laughed. “Here, take this,” he said, handing her the kerchief tied around his neck. “You wouldn't make much of a rancher."
As the police car drove past in front of them, Maddy shouted, "Hey, Roberto."
The prisoner looked out the window, a dark scowl on his face.
The woman’s eyes blazed with anger. "Have a nice day," she said, extending her middle finger.
A grin spread across the cowboy's face. "You've got attitude, lady. I'll give you that."
He mounted his horse, waved over his shoulder, and rode off.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Paul was the last to arrive at the Crab Shack. Lea knew she wouldn't be able to put off the anticipated lecture indefinitely but was glad of the opportunity to mellow him with a glass or two of his favorite wine.
Lea an
d Maddy recounted their meeting of the brothers at the donut shop and Maddy's later conversation with Maria which had led to her ensuing kidnapping by Roberto. Hearing about Maddy's rescue, Paul turned to Tom. "Scott Miller. Is that the Miller estate on the east side of town?"
"Yeah, do you know him?"
"I don't know Scott but I know his grandfather, Ralph Miller. One of my clients was interested in building single-family homes out there. He asked me to negotiate with Ralph to buy part of his property. The Miller Ranch is one of the biggest in several counties, more than twelve thousand acres. Have you seen the property?"
"Everyone in the County knows the Miller name, but I never had cause on a jurisdictional level since they were outside city limits. On a personal level, I did have occasion to meet Miller and his daughter at one of those wine tasting events my ex used to talk me into attending. As far as seeing the Ranch, I've only driven past the fences surrounding the property."
"The terrain is remarkable; oak-covered hills and steep canyons in a river valley. It's been in their family since the early nineteen hundreds. They started by raising grain and livestock. In recent years, they've branched into leasing parts of the land to the studios for movie and TV productions. They rent the Ranch House for special events like weddings, celebrity retreats, and political fundraisers."
"Your client was planning to build that far outside of town?"
"The concept was for each home to have an acre of land, big enough for people to grow their own food. We thought we had a chance because it was a big project for Miller and his daughter to handle."
"You're talking about Scott's mother? She helps run the Ranch?" Maddy asked.
"Yeah. Scott's father died of a heart attack not too many years ago. Right there on the Ranch. Keeled over one day when they were branding cattle. After her husband had his heart attack, she stepped up to help Ralph. I don't know if he could have kept everything going without her."
"That was a lot for her to take on."
"Oh, she's a strong woman alright," Paul acknowledged. "Besides her work at the Ranch, she's involved in community affairs. I've served on a couple of committees with her."
